Posted on behalf of Comrade Charles Martin.

Today I had the pleasure to join Past President, Fred Rutledge at a very nice ceremony by Wreaths Across America held at the Mare Island Naval Cemetery. There was a very good crowd for such a service and all the branches of the Armed Forces were represented. Commander Bryan Dearolf, USN, gave a very thoughtful key speech. After the ceremony, those in attendance quickly laid about 900 wreaths.

This cemetery is the oldest naval cemetery on the west coast, with graves dating back to the 1850’s. Of note is the grave of the daughter of Francis Scott Key and three Congressional Medal of Honor recipients. Fred has noted in past Legion meetings the recent efforts to clean up this cemetery over the past couple of years. It certainly is worth a visit and worthy of everyone’s continued support.

Note that the event was also covered by the local media:

• Wreaths placed on every tombstone at Mare Island Cemetery from the Vallejo Times Herald
• Vallejo remembers its own during Wreaths Across America gathering from the Daily Republic